Clay pigeon

[Kathy Marshall]

Thanks everyone! I'll let you know how it goes.

Kathy;
A question from your comments above. You say the Clay is flat on the bottom so the engraver can laser the title of the award?
"Thanks John! They are not hollowed, just the flat depression on the top. I didn't take pics of the bottom, but it's perfectly flat so they can engrave the award title or description."
I am wondering why the engraving is not all on the front so the Clay can be hung on a wall?
How are you holding the back of the Clay on the Lathe? Faceplate with screws, or can you make a recess for expansion chucking?
Peter F.

Peter, here's a pic of the back of the sample, apparently they're not meant to be hung on a wall. They're only about 4 1/2" diameter.

2012-10-02_18-32-017.jpg

[Peter Fabricius]

Thanks for that Michelle;
I guess I just do not understand the purpose of the wooden Clay Pigeon. The Laser engraving is very nice but it will be hidden when the Clay is sitting on a table.
The engraving should be on the front and then hung on a wall. IMHO.
I have downed a lot of Clays, (and missed a bunch too) shooting at the Lehigh Skeet Range in Pensylvania with my Son, he lives in South Orange, NJ.
Neat idea that could be better???? I would add a key hole for the hanger made with a plunge router and a small key hole bit. (Plunge to make a 3/8" hole and move the router about 1/2" for the slot and return to the first position and raise router, all done)
Peter F.

[Belton Garvin]

$40 sounds pretty close for 1...the key that I have found when producing prduction type items is batch processing. It may take 2 hours for 1...but 2.5-3 hours for 2. and the time gets better as you refine batch processing proceedures. One of my production items used to take me 30 minutes per unit with a 10% failure rate, after a year of "practice" I have the process down to about 12 minutes per unit with less than 5% failure rate. I wouldn't reduce the price per unit, but I would increase the number I process at a time. Equipment setup time as well as getting in the mindset of the project is most of the time spent.

[David Dobbs]

http://www.shootingsportsouvenirs.com/ email this guy an ask him what he is getting for them.

[Doug Herzberg]

Kathy, this thread reminds me of the story of the American capitalist and the native artist. Admiring his work the American asks, "How much?"

"$1," says the native.

"How much for 100 of them?" queries the capitalist, thinking of economies of scale.

"$50 each," replies the native.

Aghast, the American asks "How can you justify charging 50 times the unit price for a hundred lot?"

The artist says, "Well, making the first one was fun."

If this is a favor, charge them your costs. If it's a job, charge them a fair price for your time, in money or trade. If it stops being fun, charge a premium or don't do it at all. That's just my opinion, and not necessarily how I run my life, so take it for what it's worth. (I'd probably promise to do 100, then regret it, then procrastinate in a passive-aggressive way, hoping they'd forget.)

[Tony Profera]

Kathy;
I think 40.00 is good for this sort of work as you will probably get faster as you go. You should be able to get it down to under an hour IMO. Also might need to charge a premium for any wood requested thats spendy.

[Rich Aldrich]

As a Skeet, Trap and Sporting clays shooter, I think these are a great prize. Really nice work. At the gun club where I used to shoot, we would spend $50 to $90 on Marbles hunting knives. The club is going to have to spend a bit of money for prizes and $40 doesnt seem too bad at all. Obviously the engraving increases the cost.